Vendor Selection

eSourcing Capability ModelsQuality models and certification for IT and ITES organizationsWith the continued growth of IT services and ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services), organizations are striving to reach higher levels of performance and capability. In these relationships, service providers use information technology as a key component of, or as an enabler for, delivering their services. Technology alone does not provide complete solutions, as the eSourcing relationships between clients and their service providers must overcome many challenges to be successful.The eSourcing relationship challenges include:Clients often have little experience in outsourcing and have no standard criteria for selecting a provider.Success criteria for the relationship are not well understood or agreed upon from inception by both parties.Clients’ expectations often change as the nature of the services change, due to rapid shifts in technology and tools, and providers are not always able to keep up with those changesThe necessary trade-offs between the service’s quality, speed, and cost are not always articulated and understood.The transfer of personnel, equipment, and knowledge between the client and service provider is often problematic.Service providers often have trouble analyzing and reporting their progress in terms that are meaningful for clients.Types of sourcing servicesThe IT Services Qualification Center (ITSqc) at Carnegie Mellon University has created “best practices” capability models for both sides of the eSourcing relationship. The eSourcing Capability Model for Service Providers (eSCM-SP) v2 was released in April 2004. The eSourcing Capability Model for Client Organizations (eSCM-CL) is being released in 2006.eSCM for Service ProvidersThe eSCM-SP v2 offers ITES providers a framework to improve their capability to deliver consistently high quality services. It also assists them in establishing, managing, and continually improving relationships with clients. The intent of the eSCM is to present service providers with a set of best practices that help them effectively manage sourcing relationships. Besides, it presents clients with a way to evaluate and compare service provider’s capabilities.ITSqc developed the eSCM-SP for three purposes. First, it helps ITES providers appraise and improve their ability to provide high quality sourcing services. Second, it gives them a way to differentiate themselves from the competition. Third, prospective clients can evaluate service providers based on their eSCM-SP level of certification and Practice Satisfaction Profile.Each of the Model’s 84 Practices is distributed along three dimensions: Sourcing Life-cycle, Capability Areas, and Capability Levels. While most quality models focus only on delivery capabilities, the eSCM-SP’s Sourcing Life-cycle includes delivery, as well as initiation and completion of contracts where many commonly encountered problems arise.The eSCM-SP offers a five-level improvement path that service providers can travel to enhance value and sustain excellence over time. By grouping the practices into increasing levels of capability, the eSCM-SP describes an improvement path for a service provider. Providers may advance from a minimal level of delivering services, to the highest level, where they are proactively enhancing value for clients, regardless of the requirements or scope of sourcing efforts.The eSCM-SP has been designed to complement existing quality models so that service providers can capitalize on their previous improvement efforts. The Model’s structure complements most existing quality models such as ISO 9001, ISO 20000-1, ISO 27001, the CMMs®, COBIT® and COPC-2000®. Therefore it can be implemented in parallel with these other frameworks. A series of documents comparing the eSCM-SP with other models and standards is in production and available from the ITSqc Web site.eSCM for Client OrganizationsIn order to address both aspects of the eSourcing relationship, the ITSqc has developed the eSCM for Client Organizations (eSCM-CL), which addresses the challenges of sourcing relationships from client’s perspective. Existing frameworks do not comprehensively address the best practices needed by client organizations to successfully source and manage ITES. Actions of the client organization and of the service provider in these sourcing relationships are critical for the success.Many other frameworks focus on delivery, although the roots of many sourcing difficulties often lie elsewhere. The 95 Practices of the eSCM-CL cover the full sourcing life cycle. This best practice model begins with the client’s strategy for eSourcing, moving through initiation into delivery and, eventually, into completion activities. It allows client organizations to continuously evolve, improve, and innovate their capabilities to develop stronger, longer term, and more trusting relationships with their service providers. It also ensures that their sourcing activities provide true business value to the organization. Key aspects of the eSCM-CL that are not covered by many other standards include organizational change management and value management practices to ensure that the organization successfully manages its sourcing transformation, and that its sourcing activities return appropriate value and align with the organization’s objectives.In addition, eSCM-CL enables client organizations to appraise and improve their capability to foster the development of more effective relationships, better manage these relationships, and experience fewer failures in their client-service provider relationship.The eSCM-SP v2The 84 eSCM-SP v2 Practices are arranged within three dimensions: Sourcing Life-cycle, Capability Areas, and Capability Levels.The eSCM-CLThe Sourcing Life-cycle addressed by the eSCM-CL extends earlier than the Phases of the Sourcing Life-cycle covered by the eSCM-SP. Its 95 Practices address the sourcing activities of the client organization dealing with its sourcing strategy and analysis of its operations and potential sourcing opportunities during the Analysis Phase.ITSqc and ULCarnegie Mellon University’s ITSqc is a multidisciplinary group of researchers, practitioners, and organizations that addresses the needs of ITES providers and their clients. To that end, the ITSqc develops quality models and qualification methods for organizations involved in eSourcing. eSCM, a set of complimentary best practices for the IT-Sourcing Market, is fast becoming the standard for sourcing relationships on both sides of the service relationship. For more information about the eSCM Models or eSCM-certified organizations, visit http://www.itsqc.cmu.edu/. These documents and all Model documents are available at itsqc.cmu.edu/downloads.UL is an ITSqc-authorized provider of independent, third-party eSCM appraisals and evaluations, which can lead to certification by the ITSqc at Carnegie Mellon University.For more information about eSourcing Capability Model, please contact Dr. Hefley at Hefley@cmu.edu or JC Sekar, General Manager, Management System Registration Services (Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa) at Jc.sekar@sg.ul.com.

2 comments:

• Outsourcing software services is a trend that is reigning in the IT world today. Optimum quality services at a comparatively cheaper rate is how we can vaguely describe the objective of outsourcing. Since the price has to be kind of moderate, countries like India emerged as bigwigs as far as outsourcing is concerned. An Indian outsourcing software development company is always fancied whenever there is the need for ‘A’ grade services at a reasonable rate.